Youngsters simmer over bill on tanning salons

SACRAMENTO

Haley Davies, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, September 6, 2007

A bill that would prohibit anyone younger than 18 from going to a tanning salon without the consent of a parent or guardian was approved Wednesday by the state Senate as the Legislature moved through hundreds of bills before the end of its session next week.

The measure - AB105 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), was approved 25-12. It would require that parental permission forms be signed at tanning salons in the presence of an employee, kept on file and renewed annually.

The bill, which goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, also would prohibit anyone younger than 14 from using an ultraviolet tanning device, and prevents salons from claiming that indoor tanning has any known health benefits.

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Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, who presented the bill on the Senate floor, said skin cancer is the leading cause of death for women under 30. Oropeza, who is a cancer survivor, said the bill would help to prevent some types of melanoma, what she called "one of the most avoidable kinds of skin cancer."

But not everyone agrees with certain premises of the bill.

"It's just more nanny government," said Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley (Nevada County) who voted against the bill in committee and on the Senate floor.

Aanestad said that he opposed the measure because the Legislature had passed a similar one three years ago. In 2004, former Bay Area Assemblyman Joe Nation sponsored a bill that banned anyone younger than 14 from tanning, and required those 15 to 18 to obtain parental permission with a document that could be taken home.

"This is a waste of taxpayers' money to tighten it up a little bit," said Aanestad, a former oral and maxillofacial surgeon who noted that parents would be asked to give consent for their children to tan in spas while they do not have to give consent in person for their child's surgery.

The Tanning Industry Association worked with Lieu's office to amend the bill, eventually retracting its opposition. The group reported that about 2,390 tanning salons will be affected by the measure.

In other action this week, the Senate approved a bill that would ban hunters in California from using lead ammunition in areas inhabited by the endangered California condor.

The measure - AB821, sponsored by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara - intends to prevent lead poisoning of condors that eat the remains of game left in the field. Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-Santa Monica, who presented the bill, said only 300 condors remain.

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta (Riverside County), spoke against the bill, saying restrictions on ammunition would discourage hunters from investing in the sport in California.

The measure passed 23-15, and will go back to the Assembly for amendments before being reviewed for final passage by the governor.